About Snyder Funeral Homes

Ora & Marion Snyder on their 50th wedding anniversary surrounded by all 13 of their children.

That's when Ora O. Snyder bought his first funeral home in Johnsville and began operating it with his wife Marion. He bought the Manier Seminary in Lexington in 1926, remodeling it into a funeral home. In 1941, he purchased the A.A. Shafer Funeral Home in Bellville. During the war years, Marion Snyder obtained her funeral directors license and assisted Ora in operating the three funeral homes.

In 1946, the Snyder family bought the Ira S. George Funeral Home in Butler. Sons Dick and Bob completed their mortuary school training and joined their parents. The Snyders next purchased the Howard Meredith Funeral Home in Fredericktown in 1953. At this time, son Phil completed his schooling and joined the family concern. In April of 1963 the family opened a funeral home in the former Nathan Tucker Laboratory in Mount Gilead.

Testimonials

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Since 1922, four generations of Snyders have served families in North-Central Ohio. We understand that as the seasons change, so does life. We believe in the importance of practicing acceptance of change, no matter how grave, and when an individual passes beyond the physical plane we must celebrate the life that person lived. With compassion, we are here for you in your time of need.

Snyder History

1916

Ora O. Snyder marries Marion Lucas on February 16. Pictured is Ora dressed to play baseball with the Johnsville team and Marion in her graduation photo from Johnsville High School with the class of 1914.

1922

Ora buys his first funeral home in Johnsville, names it Snyder Funeral Home and operates it with the help of his wife and 13 children.

1926

Manier Seminary is purchased (and remodeled into a funeral home) on Delaware Street in Lexington. A special button was installed to dispatch the Troy Township Fire Department since the funeral home had the only telephone answered 24-hours a day in the village.

1941

A.A. Shafer Funeral Home is purchased in Bellville; the Snyder family moves in upstairs and funerals are conducted on the first floor. Today the home is owned by Susan & Lance Dill. Susan is a funeral director and embalmer for Snyder Funeral Homes in Richland County.

1941

An antique horse drawn hearse is included in the sale of the Bellville funeral home and is still a part of the Snyder Funeral Home fleet today. It is available for current funeral services (conditional on weather).

1942

Marion Snyder is licensed as a funeral director and was among the first women to achieve licensure. On May 21 it was front-page news in the Bellville Star: “Mrs. Marion L. Snyder, wife of Funeral Director and Embalmer Ora O. Snyder, received notice Tuesday from the State Board informing her that she had successfully passed the examination taken March 31 and had been voted Funeral Directors License No. 3532. According to Mr. Snyder, ‘These examinations are really tough and I’m glad Mrs. Snyder passed because with the war and all, it will make us better prepared to meet any emergency.’”

1946

Ira S. George Funeral Home is purchased in Butler. The building no longer stands today, but if it did it would be directly north of Three Crosses United Methodist Church (you can see the church side-entrance with the overhang in the right half of the photo).

1949

Richard “Dick” Snyder (Ora’s son) is licensed as an Ohio funeral director and embalmer. Following his discharge from the Army in 1945 he returned to Richland County, graduated from the Cleveland College of Embalming and joined his father in the family funeral business. He and his wife managed the Snyder Funeral Home in Butler from 1945 to 1953 when they moved to Fredericktown where they managed the funeral home and he served as the president of Snyder Funeral Homes, Inc from 1962 until his retirement in 1982.

1951

Robert “Bob” Snyder (Ora’s son) is licensed as an Ohio funeral director and embalmer. He returned from the war to help his father operate Snyder Funeral Homes. Bob was graduated from the Cleveland College of Mortuary Science in 1948 and he and his young bride Dorothy (Clever) lived in the funeral home in Lexington and served the community as an embalmer and funeral director from 1948 to 1970. Bob ran ambulance service for the township, and dispatched the Troy Township Fire Department, too.